21 March 2014
Last updated at 12:33 ET
Twitter users across the country reported that the site had been blocked on Thursday.
But like many others, President Gul evaded the ban to tweet that the "shutdown was unacceptable."
Mr Erdogan is angry that people used Twitter to spread allegations of corruption in his inner circle.
'Not technically possible'
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President
Abdullah Gul has challenged a ban on Twitter in Turkey after Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to "wipe out" the micro-blogging
service.
But like many others, President Gul evaded the ban to tweet that the "shutdown was unacceptable."
Mr Erdogan is angry that people used Twitter to spread allegations of corruption in his inner circle.
Continue reading the main story
The minute the Turkish prime minister announced the block on
the service, many users were finding - and sharing - ways around the
ban.
With Turkish internet providers ordered to send Twitter traffic to a dead end, computer users found they could change the Domain Name Settings (DNS), which form the internet's address book, to get back on the right track.
Those using mobile phones to tweet were advised to download Virtual Private Network applications of the kind used by web users in countries such as China to access blocked sites.
And Twitter itself sent out advice, suggesting that users revert to an old method, which allows them to post updates to their account via text message.
The flow of tweets now coming out of Turkey - including some from the president criticising the prime minister's ban - suggest that finding ways of evading the censorship has proved relatively easy.
With Turkish internet providers ordered to send Twitter traffic to a dead end, computer users found they could change the Domain Name Settings (DNS), which form the internet's address book, to get back on the right track.
Those using mobile phones to tweet were advised to download Virtual Private Network applications of the kind used by web users in countries such as China to access blocked sites.
And Twitter itself sent out advice, suggesting that users revert to an old method, which allows them to post updates to their account via text message.
The flow of tweets now coming out of Turkey - including some from the president criticising the prime minister's ban - suggest that finding ways of evading the censorship has proved relatively easy.
"I don't care what the
international community says at all. Everyone will see the power of the
Turkish Republic," Mr Erdogan said in a speech on Thursday.
President Gul took to the site on Friday to say that websites
should only be blocked if courts found they had violated personal
privacy.
He said it was not "technically possible to totally block access to platforms used all over the world" and added that he hoped the decision would "not last long."
Like Mr Erdogan, Mr Gul is a member of the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP).
In Turkey, the government holds most power but the president can veto laws, appoint officials, and name judges.
The European Union said it was worried about the move to block Twitter, with Stefan Fuele, the EU commissioner for enlargement, saying he was "gravely concerned" by Prime Minister Erdogan's policy on free speech.
European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes described the blocking of the site as "groundless, pointless, cowardly."
Turkey's lawyers' association asked a court to overturn the ban, arguing it was unconstitutional and violated Turkish and European human rights laws. Turkey's main opposition party also said it would try to have the decision reversed.
A
Mr Erdogan took action against Twitter after some users had
posted documents reportedly showing evidence of corruption relating to
his office - a claim he denies.
His spokesman said Mr Erdogan had been forced to act after the social media company had failed to respond to a court ruling in Turkey to remove some links.
Some users trying to open twitter.com were redirected to a statement by Turkey's telecommunications regulator citing a court order to apply "protection measures" on the website.
Twitter has so far made no public comment on the court order but a spokesman said it was looking into the outage. Twitter also posted a message in both English and Turkish telling users how to send tweets via text messages.
There are about 10 million Twitter users across Turkey.
In 2010, the country lifted its ban on YouTube - two years after it blocked access to the website because of videos deemed insulting to the country's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
He said it was not "technically possible to totally block access to platforms used all over the world" and added that he hoped the decision would "not last long."
Like Mr Erdogan, Mr Gul is a member of the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP).
In Turkey, the government holds most power but the president can veto laws, appoint officials, and name judges.
The European Union said it was worried about the move to block Twitter, with Stefan Fuele, the EU commissioner for enlargement, saying he was "gravely concerned" by Prime Minister Erdogan's policy on free speech.
European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes described the blocking of the site as "groundless, pointless, cowardly."
Turkey's lawyers' association asked a court to overturn the ban, arguing it was unconstitutional and violated Turkish and European human rights laws. Turkey's main opposition party also said it would try to have the decision reversed.
Prime Minister Erdogan said he did not care what the international community would say about the ban
DNS details that could be used to bypass the ban were spray-painted on to a wall in Istanbul
A
map showing where tweets including #twitterisblockedinturkey were trending around the world
Those Twitter users who managed to circumvent the ban took to the service to voice anger at the move.
Continue reading the main story
Neelie Kroes European Commission Vice President"The Twitter ban in Turkey is groundless, pointless, cowardly. Turkish people and the international community will see this as censorship. It is”
One user tweeting under the name
@MuratYetkin2 said: "I see that everyone is here. Looks like the ban
has been circumvented in less than 12 hours."
His spokesman said Mr Erdogan had been forced to act after the social media company had failed to respond to a court ruling in Turkey to remove some links.
Some users trying to open twitter.com were redirected to a statement by Turkey's telecommunications regulator citing a court order to apply "protection measures" on the website.
Twitter has so far made no public comment on the court order but a spokesman said it was looking into the outage. Twitter also posted a message in both English and Turkish telling users how to send tweets via text messages.
Freedom2014: a Turkish writer says he's very worried about the crackdown
In 2010, the country lifted its ban on YouTube - two years after it blocked access to the website because of videos deemed insulting to the country's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
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